I have been noticing an unfortunate phenomenon in the American discourse where people are focused more on making their point, of convincing the other person they are wrong, rather than trying to either gain knowledge or understanding the viewpoint of the other person. Now, don't get me wrong, in understanding the viewpoint of someone else isn't saying they indeed might be right on their position, but you can't blame a kid for thinking that rain is the tears of angels crying for the sins of mankind if that is what the kid has been told by his parents.

I have been frustrated by a number of discussions I have had in the past few weeks where the other person has jumped to a conclusion of where my argument was going. Sometimes I take a while to get to the point, just to illustrate I might understand the position the other person is coming from or just to give some insight as to how I arrived at my conclusion. In many cases, people have wanted to jump to the end, giving me some formula answer or talking point. If they had bothered to listen, and this has been the case in talking with customer service representatives, if they had taken the time to listen they would have realized the explanation they were giving me was false.

I've been hearing a lot about how our education system has been broken down for a long time. Most of the time I have dismissed this as a distraction from the central issue of discussion at the time, but the more time that goes by the more I'm convinced we are getting ourselves into a situation where critical thinking will be a lost art. Look at what is going on in the Republican side of the election. If you are for the rejection of science, then you are in with the crowd. If you are such a stickler for individual self reliance you feel the need to neglect those in need, you are in. Just think about the people who applauded Rick Perry on his death penalty record at one debate, or the cheers and shouts of letting the man die when Ron Paul was asked if we should help someone who was young and didn't feel the need to get health care, only to be stricken with a sickness and needing care.

People on the other side of the aisle also egg these folks on to a defensive position, much like an annoying sister picking at her younger brother. Sure, the position to cheer the death penalty or to wish for a young man to die is sickening, but you will not win over people to your side by challenging their faith.

Right now people are afraid. I think it's a bit sad that many who were alive in the 90s or the 80s don't remember the economic turmoil we had. To me this is just a repeat of stuff we've had before, but that seems to be lost on a lot of people.